Coming Home
by missmarlee
Summary: Bella never moved to Forks at 17, but instead followed her mother to Jacksonville. With an M.D after her name and her years of surgical residency ahead of her she moves to Seattle, where she finds herself face to face with the person she should have met a decade earlier. What would it be like if Bella met Edward years later and under entirely different circumstances? ExB
1. Chapter 1

Her hands rested against the warm metal of the stethoscope, looping the diaphragm around the earpieces readying it for packing away. She placed it on the very top of the box labeled "For Residency", setting it next to her white name tag. She stared at the black letters embedded in the white plastic, still adjusting to the Dr. abbreviation before her name and the M.D after it.

Dr. Isabella Swan, M.D.

It was still surreal, that she'd made it this far, despite everything. Not long ago it had seemed a distant, unattainable dream as her life fell in shambles around her. She'd questioned everything, mostly her ability and her own dedication to this life she was trying to carve out for herself. She had questioned if she'd even be alive long enough to graduate medical school. But she didn't dwell, not allowing her thoughts to stray too far into the unpleasantness of her life. She shoved the nametag back into the box hastily folding the cardboard flaps over each other, taping the seams closed.

She slumped back against the wall behind her, taking in the emptiness of the space she was in, taking the time to appreciate how much this space had meant to her for so long. It was soon to be a distant memory, and though part of her was relieved, an even larger part was petrified. Life was changing, and she was heading into residency after years of medical school and internship, feeling only slightly more prepared than she had when she'd first walked through the doors of Jacksonville's only Medical School.

That felt like eons ago now, a distant but steadily pulsating memory. That chapter was ending. She'd followed Renee and her boyfriend Phil, to Jacksonville, putting up with their dysfunctional romance for as long as she could. When she'd signed the lease for this apartment in her last year of her undergrad it had felt like her key to freedom. And it had been.

But now it just felt like a cage. Where her bright bay windows were she now imagined cold, iron bars meant to trap her in. There were dark, desolate walls where she once saw the bright Florida colours she'd painted the apartment when she first moved in. Each room held a memory she longed to transform or forget altogether. It seemed that there would be no forgetting, though. The memories clawing their way back into her consciousness at every opportunity.

This place had saved her… but she couldn't stay. Her refuge had become her nightmare.

She lifted the last box and heaved it onto the smallest stack in the corner of her tiny apartment. She glanced at her watch, 7:45 – which meant the movers would be here in 15 minutes. She took one last moment to glance around the room, idly wondering what this next phase of her life would bring her.

She'd heard a lot about Seattle, mostly that it was rainy and cold, two things she wasn't fond of. But it had the best surgical residency in the entire state, and that was what she was there for. It seemed like a miracle that she'd even matched there in the first place.

It was time to move forward.

She squared her shoulders, lifted her head, and braced herself for what was to come.

* * *

 **A/N: This story just wouldn't leave my head. I'm about 10 chapters in and hoping to update regularly. I had to take a break from reading and writing for a while as real life was catching up with me in the most dreadful way. But, the dust has settled and I'm back at it.**

 **Let me know what you think? This is uncharted territory for me and I feel a bit apprehensive about it!**


	2. Chapter 2

Her plane landed four hours later than it was scheduled to. The pilot had taken to the overhead speaker to explain in a garbled and bristly voice that they were experiencing engine issues which they hoped to resolve quickly. They'd proceeded to spend almost four hours stranded on the tarmac. She was riding coach, of course, and her entire section was comically crammed into the small confines of the plane like canned sardines. There was little space between passengers and being Jacksonville in the last week of June it was sweltering. Of course, engine issues meant the plane wasn't up and running, which meant there was no air conditioning to offset the extreme heat.

And so, everyone sat, impatiently waiting for the flight to take off.

Bella swiped at her forehead, the back of her hand slick with her own sweat as she twisted in the seat, trying to find a comfortable position. She grabbed for her bottle of water, the flight attendants had made their rounds an hour into the ordeal handing out a single bottle of room temperature water to each passenger. Bella hadn't thought to conserve, assuming the engine troubles would be resolved quickly. No such luck. She stared into the empty plastic bottle, her tongue darting out against her dry lips, wishing she'd saved even just a mouthful. Her mouth felt as dry as the desert she'd grown up in.

"I can share some of mine if you'd like," a small, black-haired woman across the aisle from Bella spoke, her voice reminding Bella of soft, wooden windchimes. She held up a nearly full bottle of water and smiled, her bright, white teeth glinting in a curious way. Bella felt a familiar warmth toward this woman almost immediately, though she hadn't noticed her presence until now.

"Are you sure? Aren't you thirsty? It looks like you've barely taken a sip…"

The small woman smiled again, her bright red lips pulling up in a pleasant way as she reached across the aisle and held the bottle in offering to Bella.

Bella stared at her, appreciating the gesture but struggling to focus as she carefully observed the pixie-like woman sitting across from her. She seemed to bounce in her seat, energy radiating from her in an unusual way.

Beautiful seemed inadequate to describe her. Her ruby-red lips were in incredible contrast to her porcelain-white skin. Her bone structure was flawless with high, sculpted cheekbones highlighting her strange, _yellow_ eyes.

 _Yellow eyes?_

Bella looked again, trying to understand if what she was seeing was just a trick of poor lighting and heat exhaustion.

She observed her eyes, noticing as they glinted in the poor lighting of the airplane cabin, and Bella realized that they were, in fact, yellow. She wondered if they might look different, perhaps more green than yellow, in the natural light of the sun. She was sure the poor, artificial lighting of the airplane was deceiving her.

"Bella?" The voice of the small woman startled her out of her trance.

"Sorry," she muttered, still keenly observing the stranger. Bella's thoughts headed in a different direction and questions bubbled inside of her that she couldn't contain.

"How do you know my name?" She probed, finally accepting the nearly full bottle of water from this breathtakingly beautiful stranger. The woman smiled and tapped her temple in a mocking gesture, winking as she did.

"I'm psychic," she said plainly. Bella gawked, unsure how to respond to such a ludicrous statement. The woman laughed before elaborating, "I read your name off the cover of your folder there," she gestured toward the royal blue folder that was sitting on the tray in front of Bella. It was her orientation booklet for Harborview Medical Center, outlining the expectations of her time there as a surgical resident. She brought it out with the intention of reading it on the short flight from Jacksonville to Seattle but had given up about 30 minutes into being stalled, the oppressive heat robbing her of any focus.

Bella smiled and took a small sip of water, feeling silly now for having any suspicious thoughts about this kind, bubbly stranger. She thought to mention that her portfolio said Isabella and that she'd called her Bella, her preferred name – how could she have known that? She decided against any further questioning. She'd already been unintentionally rude to this kind woman and so she let it slide, deciding it was a curious coincidence and nothing more.

"My name is Alice – pleasure to meet you!" the small woman clarified. She didn't reach across the aisle to offer her hand for a shake but waved instead.

"Nice to meet you, Alice." Bella offered little else in the way of conversation, but that didn't deter Alice, who filled the silence with questions and excited musings.

"You're a doctor, then." Alice gestured toward the folder, "Are you heading into residency at Harborview?"

Bella nodded and smiled.

"Congratulations on getting in, I hear they only take the most impressive and qualified candidates into their residency program. It's one of the most highly sought-after programs in the entire state." Alice seemed to beam with pride as she explained this to Bella, who thought it was endearing that this unusual woman was invested in her life after only a few minutes of knowing her. Bella tried to ignore the blush that was creeping along her face, and thankfully Alice didn't seem to take notice.

"Thanks. Do you live in Seattle?"

Alice nodded, folding her perfectly manicured hands across her lap.

"I do. Well, not exactly in Seattle, but just outside it, actually. I live with my family and we prefer a quieter, more isolated environment. Seattle is too bustling for daily living. I travel into Seattle on occasion for work." Alice beamed with excitement through her explanation, her yellow eyes bright with curiosity.

Bella had taken to fanning herself with her portfolio now. She noticed how unaffected Alice seemed by the heat. Where Bella's face was bright red and glistening with sweat, Alice looked unfettered.

 _That seems physically impossible. It must be at least 90 degrees in here…_

Bella was naturally curious about her, too. She wondered what she did for work, she looked so young, hardly old enough to have an established career. But Alice was well-dressed, covered head to toe in expensive designer clothing, the quality fabrics accentuating her small frame perfectly. Even more curious was the fact that this well-dressed woman was seated in coach. If she could afford head to toe designer clothing, why couldn't she afford business class? Bella was naturally observant and further developed this skill in medical school, where being observant was part and parcel of her work.

"Do you have a place to stay in Seattle?" Alice asked, breaking Bella's moment of quiet contemplation.

"I do. A small apartment close to the hospital," Bella explained, taking another long sip of Alice's water.

"Sounds nice. I'm assuming you don't know many people in Seattle then? Did you grow up in Jacksonville?"

"No, I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, but my mom moved here with her boyfriend when I was 17. I tagged along and went to college and med school there." Alice nodded along, intrigued.

Bella couldn't understand her inclination to be so sociable and forthcoming with Alice. She was a quiet, reserved person and had almost always kept to herself growing up. This instinct had intensified in the recent years, making Bella as close to a recluse as humanly possible while still maintaining a successful career as a medical student. There was something about Alice that loosened her tongue, she offered her parts of her life she usually wouldn't have shared with a stranger.

"Phoenix and Jacksonville?" Alice exclaimed, "You must really love the sun."

Bella laughed, nodding.

"I do. But it doesn't love me. You'd figured I'd have a bit of colour to me after living my whole life in the warmth of the sun." Bella's hands gestured toward herself as she emphasized exactly how fair she was.

"I know the feeling," Alice chuckled.

There was quiet between them for a few minutes, but Bella could feel Alice's excitement radiating from across the aisle. She vibrated in her seat, glancing at Bella with curiosity.

"Why did you leave Jacksonville?" Alice asked bluntly. The question startled Bella, giving her pause as she struggled to find a reasonable explanation for something she had no intention of divulging to anyone, let alone this stranger.

"Um… it was time for a change, I guess. My dad lives nearby, in Forks. I figured living closer to him would be a nice change." Bella stuttered awkwardly through her answer. She wasn't a very adept liar. It was a half-truth, though, the rest of the ugliness Bella didn't want to share was simmering inside of her, aching to find a release.

Alice's eyes softened, the corners of her mouth turning down into a frown. There was nothing sad about Bella's explanation for wanting to move, but Bella got the sense that Alice knew more than she was letting on. Her reaction seemed to be one of someone who might understand this more intimately than Bella would have liked.

Alice sat quietly for a while, staring blankly ahead, not even flinching when the pilot's voice rang out over the speaker again, explaining that the engine troubles were resolved and that they would be taking off shortly.

Almost twenty minutes had passed when Alice turned to Bella, whispering loudly over the rumbling of the engine as the plane navigated to its takeoff point on the tarmac.

"I think we're going to be very good friends, you and I. I have a feeling," she explained, tapping her temple again. But this time, Bella sensed no mockery or irony. This time, Bella was certain the small pixie woman was completely serious.

Bella nodded, pulling off a corner from one of the pages in her folder, scribbling her number on it, reaching across the aisle to rest it on Alice's tray. Bella smiled and said nothing more as she slipped her headphones over her ears and picked her favourite podcast. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the blissfully cool air that pushed forcefully out of the overhead vent.

She didn't know what it was, but there was something about Alice that made her feel… safe? She'd spent a long time invalidating her intuition when it came to her personal life, learning not to trust it, learning to stifle it and stamp it out. But not with Alice.

Something was brewing inside of Bella.

It seemed that something was changing.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure you're fine, Bella? Have you called Charlie? Have you let him know you arrived safely? You have a few days before you start… you could take a trip out to Forks and catch up with him, y'know. He'd love that," Renee rambled on excitedly over the phone, requiring very little in the way of dialogue as she seemed to carry on the entire conversations with herself, Bella's input rendered unnecessary.

"Yes, I'm fine. No, I haven't called Charlie. But yes, I will," Bella spoke softly into the receiver, holding the phone in place between her ear and her shoulder as she pulled heavy medical texts from her last remaining box, placing them on the already crowded shelf-space. It was a large shelf, an old, worn looking wood that had been built into the white walls, slightly recessed so that it was almost hidden unless you were staring at it straight on. It was the entire length of the wall and Bella had managed to fill every square inch of it.

Classic English literature filled the top three shelves and the rest of the space was taken up by large, hardcover medical textbooks that she'd acquired throughout medical school. She still referenced them daily, the pages worn and marked with pencil throughout.

"Bella, I'm worried about you. This decision was so last minute… I don't really understand why you decided to move halfway across the country to _Seattle_ of all places, seems kind of impulsive" Renee's voice was filled with trepidation and anxiety, both of which Bella didn't feel like having to manage in this moment. Plus, Renee lecturing her on impulsiveness was laughable.

"It's one of the best surgical residencies in the country, mom. It's closer to Charlie and it'll be good to spend some time with him."

But Renee wasn't convinced, just as she hadn't been when Bella first tabled the idea. She'd already gotten in and accepted the offer when she told Renee and Phil. The timing of her announcement was intentional – having already accepted there was no way they could object or try to dissuade her. She'd rehearsed a halfway decent excuse and recited it every time she was confronted with the question of why? She'd been at the top of her class in Jacksonville and had been accepted into several local residency programs She had a beautiful apartment, one or two close friends and a boyfriend that adored her. Nobody could understand why she'd want to leave all of it behind – trade in the sunshine and warmth for the wet and the cold.

Bella didn't relent. One day she was living in Jacksonville and the next she had booked a flight, rented her old apartment, signed a new lease and was heading out of state.

"I'll feel a lot better if you go see Charlie. Don't make me call him, Bella."

Bella scoffed, flattening the last of the boxes as she collapsed onto her couch, completely exhausted from the past week of packing, flying, unpacking and maintaining this exhausting charade.

"Fine. I'll go see Charlie tomorrow," Bella didn't mention that she didn't yet have a car. She figured that would only make Renee even more insufferable. She might even covertly call up Charlie and convince him to drive all the way to Seattle to pick up Bella, and Bella had no interest in being trapped in a car alone with him for three and a half hours. She could rent a car and avoid the hassle altogether.

"That's a good plan, sweetheart. Why don't you give me a call tomorrow evening and we'll chat about your visit with Charlie?"

"Sure thing," Bella agreed through a yawn. "Talk to you later," she offered, waiting for Renee's reply before hitting the end button on her phone. She changed into pajamas, washed her face and brushed her teeth and crawled into bed. She glanced around her new apartment, noting how much tinier it was than her apartment in Jacksonville. It was pleasant, a simple bachelor apartment located relatively close to the hospital. For Bella the selling feature had been the concierge and around the clock security.

As she lay in her bed, allowing her tired body to sink into the soft mattress, she couldn't help but notice how familiar and right everything looked. All her old furniture, which had looked too simple for her gorgeous Florida apartment, fit perfectly in her Seattle apartment. Everything fit, like it was meant to be. Like this was always where she was meant to be.

She allowed her thoughts to wander for a few moments longer before she fell into a restless, fitful sleep. She woke several times through the night, glancing at the door from her bed, every small sound startling her awake. She eventually gave up on sleep altogether and brewed a pot of coffee, grabbed a text from her shelf and studied instead.

At some point she'd looked up the number for locksmiths in the neighbourhood and jotted a few with decent reviews down onto a notepad. She'd call around tomorrow and find someone that could install a few extra locks as soon as possible.

Maybe a few extra locks would give her enough peace of mind to be able to sleep through the night.

 _Unlikely, but it doesn't hurt to try._

* * *

Bella glanced into the rear-view of her rental car. She had picked it up right after the locksmith left early that morning. She noticed the large bags beneath her eyes. She'd never been one to wear makeup but part of her wished she had some concealer to make the purple circles under her eyes less glaring.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel as she tried to shrug off the terrible anxiety that was building inside of her. Her shoulders were tensed, her fingers gripping the wheel, nailbeds white from the intense pressure of her grip. She glanced down at her phone, watching as the small marker moved on the map of her GPS.

It was a scenic drive as she passed the endless miles of greenery and trees. Everything in Washington was green and alive. One apparent benefit of the rain was endless growth, it seemed. She wondered if the same could apply to her.

It had been years since she'd seen Charlie. The last time was when she was 21 and in her last year of college, preparing to write her MCATs. She'd been gifted plane tickets from Charlie as a celebratory gift for graduation. He'd left a simple note in the card that he'd mailed: "hope to see you soon, Bells." He'd folded the tickets in half, clearly unable to fit them in a standard card.

She visited, spending only a week. It had been comfortable, familiar and easy to be with him. She and Charlie were more similar than she could ever remember from the once yearly obligatory visits she'd made in the early years of his and Renee's separation. Perhaps she was changing, or perhaps it was that she'd always been too young in previous visits to really pay attention to the subtle, but significant, similarities they shared.

They were both quiet, introspective and relatively serious people. Charlie enjoyed simple things, and only spoke when he had something meaningful to say. He was the type of person people listened to when he spoke. It was such a rare event that it captured everyone when it happened.

Bella had toyed then with the idea of moving to Seattle after that visit. She wondered if she could defer acceptance into medical school for a year or two, and then look at applying to medical schools in Washington. There was something that felt right about Washington in a way Jacksonville never had.

Here she felt like she could be herself, like she had the space to discover what that meant. In Jacksonville she'd spent years feeling like she was trying to fit herself into something that was never hers to begin with. She felt miserably out of place.

She'd even gone as far as looking into the application process for med schools in Seattle, but before she could flesh out the idea anymore everything came to a halting stop. The week she returned was the week everything had changed completely.

Her life became such an incredible whirlwind that she'd completely forgotten about the prospect of moving altogether. She never again entertained the idea. It had seemed as though both times she'd considered moving to be closer to Charlie her life had been turned upside down. The first time when she was 17 and contemplating moving to Forks instead of Jacksonville with her mother, and again when she was about to enter medical school, right before meeting Elias.

Bella shook against the upholstered car seat, shuddering at the memory of that time, at the memory of Elias.

She felt like she was running and fulfilling a dream all at once. The complicated set of emotions was simply too exhausting to contemplate and so she settled instead for drowning out all thoughts by blaring the mixed tape she'd shoved into the tape deck.

By the time she'd pulled up to Charlie's house she'd made it through the entire first side of the tape and halfway through the second side. It was a mixed tape she had made right before her last trip to see Charlie, and so it was fitting that it was the soundtrack to her drive back to Forks.

Despite the years that had passed since her last visit nothing had changed about his home.

His cruiser still sat parked in the driveway, the small garden in the front was still dismal with only a few perennials she'd planted years ago during one of her summer visits brightening up the dark brown soil. Weeds populated the rest of the space, a stark reminder that tending to living things wasn't one of Charlie's strong suits.

Before Bella could get out of the car Charlie appeared at the front door, a small smile on his face as he made his way toward her car, pulling the door open for her.

"Hey," Bella offered, smiling. Crawling out of the car and stretching out her stiff muscles.

"Hey, kid," Charlie said, holding his arms open, pulling Bella into a quick hug. "How yah been?"

"I'm alright," Bella grinned, pulling her small overnight bag from the backseat.

"You're driving a rental?"

Bella had forgotten how perceptive Charlie was. He must have noticed the small green sticker on the rear license plate indicating the car was a rental. She knew which parent she inherited the quality from.

"Yeah," she nodded, her hand clutching at the back of her neck, "I didn't have time to find a car yet. Between packing and flying and unpacking… it's been busy."

"Yeah. It was sudden, huh?"

It wasn't really a question, Bella realized. Not the way it had been with mostly everyone else. It was more of a statement, kind of like Charlie's way of letting her know he knew something wasn't quite right. He suspected there was something more to her reasons for leaving Jacksonville.

"Yeah, it was." Bella said nothing more on the topic and knew that Charlie wouldn't press for more information. He wasn't the type to invade her privacy when he could help it.

"Well, I got yah something. I talked to Renee and she told me that finances have been tight for you. She mentioned you might not have a car… and you've worked all the way through med school and I know they don't really pay interns very much. I wish I could've helped more…"

"Oh, dad… you shouldn't have done that..."

Charlie nodded, glancing toward the road as a thundering roar sputtered down the street. Bella turned her attention in the same direction, noting the large, red truck that cruised down the street and turned into Charlie's driveway.

She turned to Charlie, cocking an eyebrow at him but saying nothing.

Bella nearly choked when she saw who jumped from the driver's side of the truck, tucking around the side to grab a wheelchair from the cargo bed in the back.

"No way! Jacob?" she laughed, smiling at the sight before her. Jacob had grown significantly, his hair long, silky and landing halfway down his back. His body was larger, lean muscle rippling through him as he moved. It was an unusually warm day for Forks, and Jacob wore jean cut off shorts and a short-sleeved dark blue shirt. Bella admired the sight before her, a completely innocent appreciation for her old friend and his obvious attractiveness.

"Hey Bella," he walked toward her, reaching out to wrap her up in a familiar hug. Bella stiffened as his arms snaked around her, pressing her small, thin frame into the intense warmth and strength of his unreasonably toned chest.

He didn't seem to notice her discomfort though, as he held onto her longer that was considered decent for a hug between old friends.

Before she could protest he let her go and smiled, "Oh! I forgot, I guess I should be calling you Dr. Swan now? Charlie brags to anyone that'll listen about his doctor daughter," he laughed, his eyes filled with a genuine happiness as he appraised her.

"No way," she groaned, "Bella is perfectly fine."

"Hey Jake, get me outta here will ya?" Bella watched as Jake ran to the passenger side door, pulling an aged and tired looking Billy from the truck, lifting him effortlessly into the wheelchair he'd pulled from the back.

Bella smiled and waved at Billy, happy to see he wasn't too worse for wear. The last time she'd visited Charlie she'd seen Billy and he looked to be in bad shape. Jake hadn't been around then, and Billy had drummed up some unlikely excuse about Jacob going to work in Canada for a while in the lumber mills to save up money for college.

It seemed like a lie then, but Bella wondered now if maybe it had been true? What else could explain the drastic change in his physique? Years of hard manual labour seemed the only logical explanation for his incredible transformation. Either that or he was a gym rat using steroids, an unlikely explanation. The nearest gym was miles away and Bella couldn't picture Jacob lifting weights amongst the other beefy jocks.

"So, what do you think?" Jacob asked, his arms outstretched toward the red truck Charlie was now leaning against.

"Um, it's great?" She replied, unsure why he was asking her, of all people, for her opinion on his truck. She knew less than nothing about trucks and cars.

"Yeah, it is! And it's yours," he smiled, holding a keychain in his hand, the key to the truck dangling on the other end.

"What?" Bella was incredulous. She turned to Charlie, questions written across her face.

"It's yours, Bells. I figured you'd need something to get you here on weekends when you're not working or on call. Jake here says this is a reliable vehicle."

"And I gave you a sweet family friends discount," he smirked, facing Bella now, "I just rebuilt the engine. She's old, but she's reliable."

Bella smiled from ear to ear.

"It's perfect!"

Jacob dropped the key into her open hand and she pivoted to face Charlie.

"You didn't have to do this but thank you!" she leaned in and gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek before turning again to appraise her new vehicle.

"Wanna take it for a spin? There's a couple things I should tell you about it," Jake explained.

"Hell yeah!"

Minutes later Bella was backing out of Charlie's driveway as Jacob rattled on about the quirks and oddities of her new vehicle. Once he'd made his way through his list they moved onto topics that could hold Bella's interest.

"How have you been, Jake?"

"I'm alright. Glad you see you. It's been years," he mused, his arm resting through the open window of the truck.

"Yeah, it's been a while."

Jacob wasted no time in trying to poke his nose as far into Bella's business as he could.

"Last I heard from Charlie you were pretty seriously involved with a guy… what happened there?"

Bella stiffened in her seat, her back straightening as she struggled to take deep, intentional breaths. She was fighting against her building panic, trying to find an exit route for this conversation as quickly as possible.

"Yeah. Um, it didn't work out," there was a finality in her tone that Jacob was reluctant to challenge.

"So, you broke up with him? He broke up with you?"

"It was mutual," Bella's voice was filled with discomfort and trembled with her anxiety.

"Sorry to hear," Jacob offered, understanding now that it was sensitive subject.

"Yeah. Thanks. How about you? Are you seeing anyone?"

"Me? Nah. Not right now, anyway. Kind of holding out for that perfect person."

"Perfect person? Sounds like you're looking for something fairly serious then?" Bella questioned, raising her voice slightly as she struggled to shout over the loud, creaking sounds her new truck made as she shifted gears.

"Yeah. I'm ready to settle down, I think."

"Wow. And here I am just trying to make it through the day resembling something close to an adult," Bella laughed to herself, turning a corner again heading back in the direction of Charlie's.

"You're what, 26? You're not thinking of getting serious yet?"

Bella wished this conversation would dwindle away, instead it was violently, brutally pulling things to the surface she'd rather forget forever.

"No."

Her voice had thickened, the word escaping her in a way that sounded desperate. Serious and monosyllabic, it made clear that she was no longer interested in further conversation. The few short minutes back to Charlie's were filled with an uncomfortable silence.

"Well, take my number. You're living in Seattle, right? Maybe we can hang out if you come by on weekends? I head out to Seattle sometimes, maybe we could grab a coffee?"

"Yeah, sure. That would be great, Jake. Can I drive you and Billy home?"

"Nah, we're ok. Dad's meeting Harry Clearwater for lunch and I'm going to run back to the res."

Bella looked at Jacob, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Run back? All the way to the reservation?" Bella questioned.

"Yup," Jacob smirked, a self-satisfied look on his handsome face.

"Tell me honestly, Jacob, are you on steroids?" Bella laughed through the question, three quarters joking and a quarter completely serious. Jacob chuckled in reply, clearly not sensing the somewhat serious undertone of her question.

"Catch yah later?"

"Definitely – and thanks for the truck, Jake."

And with that Jacob was pushing Billy down the street and toward the main stretch of Forks.

* * *

Bella spent the rest of the evening with Charlie, though they spent very little time talking. She asked a few questions about how work was, rummaged through his fridge to find something to throw together for dinner and abandoned her endeavor when he insisted he would take her out for dinner.

They ate at the same diner, ordered the same meal and chatted about the same things they always had. Fishing, work, school, sports. The context changed slightly as Bella did her best to avoid questions about her relationship, and Charlie didn't pry. Instead, he asked her pointed questions about residency, listening intently as she explained what being a surgical resident would entail.

Charlie was beaming with pride as people stopped by their table to say hello, Bella fielding questions about her move to Washington and her career choice.

By the time they reached home they were both exhausted and Bella retired to her old bedroom, which remained unchanged since her last visit, falling into yet another fitful sleep.

She woke early in the morning, struggling to stay asleep and decided to start on breakfast. She drove down to the local supermarket and grabbed a few groceries, enough to last Charlie the week and make breakfast for him.

The moment she got back to Charlie's house she set to work preparing a nutritious breakfast and coffee. They ate together, Bella reading through the local paper and Charlie staring quietly out the window.

"Thanks for breakfast, Bells."

"Sure, no problem," she nodded, downing the last sip of coffee before folding the paper and tucking it away. Charlie caught her eyes, clearing his throat before starting to speak.

"Bella, you know me. You know I'm not the type to pry. But as your dad, I've 'gotta ask…"

She breathed in a sharp breath, pressing her eyes closed, awaiting the inevitable onslaught of questions that was sure to come.

Instead, Charlie surprised her with his simple inquiry.

"Are you ok? Are you _really_ ok?" His voice sounded distant and sad. Bella forced her eyes open and observed the tired looking man sitting across from her. The question startled her, mostly because he _wasn't_ trying to pry. He was trying to make sure she was ok – to make sure her heart was ok.

She thought about several possible responses, each steeped in its own set of lies and half-truths. She settled instead for the most honest answer she could muster without compromising her carefully crafted façade.

"Not yet… but I think I will be."

Charlie stared at her, his eyes soft, his salt and pepper hair falling across his face as he stared thoughtfully at his daughter.

"Alright. Well, I'm here. Always here…"

Bella nodded, her eyes welling with tears that she fought to conceal. Charlie rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardness finally settling over their interaction. He quickly changed the subject.

"So, when do you think you'll be back to visit?"

Bella smiled, knowing that this was Charlie's way of letting her know he'd enjoyed their time together.

"I'm not sure. I'll have to figure out my call schedule. I start tomorrow so I should know by then. How about I give you a call and let you know?"

"Sounds good."

They spent the rest of the morning together, washing and drying the dishes before heading outside to tidy the garden. Bella felt an unusual sense of longing when she pulled away in the new-to-her red truck. Charlie and Billy had promised to return the rental. There was a sister rental company just outside of Forks that would take the rental back. Bella was appreciative, glad to take the truck back to Seattle. Like a lot of things in Washington, the truck just felt right.

She pushed the mixtape back into the tape deck and let her thoughts get lost in the nostalgia of old music and more pleasant memories. She rolled down the window, letting the warm breeze catch her long, brown hair, flipping it wildly around her face.

She slowed slightly as she came to a sharp turn and felt her heart catch in her throat when a shiny, silver Volvo sped like lightning around the turn, easily reaching 90 miles per hour.

Bella was furious, shouting out the window at the careless driver though he clearly couldn't hear her.

"Slow down, asshole!"

* * *

 **A/N: A shiny, silver Volvo...**


	4. Chapter 4

It was clear that one cup of coffee wasn't going to be enough. Bella pulled open the door of the locker that had been assigned to her, feeling the effects of several days with very little sleep. The bags under her eyes had only grown, the purple colour deepening. She reached inside the mostly empty locker and pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen from her backpack, dropping two pills into her mouth and chugging back some water from her bottle.

She had arrived at 6 am, an hour before morning rounds to familiarize herself with the hospital.

"A headache already? Your first shift hasn't even started yet!" Bella whirled around coming face to face with a young man, probably in his late 20s. He was pleasant looking, with wavy brown hair that framed his tanned face and highlighted his dark, brown eyes. He greeted her with a genuine smile, stretching out his hand toward her.

"I'm Carlos Diaz – second-year surgical resident. Nice to meet you."

Bella took his hand and shook it firmly, maintaining eye contact, "Bella Swan, first-year surgical intern."

"Ah, fresh meat! Welcome to Harborview. Are you ready for your first 24 hours?"

Bella nodded, grabbing her stethoscope out of her locker, throwing it around her neck before closing the door with a slam.

"I'm ready," she said with certainty. She'd worked toward this day for four years and matching into this surgical residency program was no small feat. She refused to show any weakness that might make people assume that her small size and quiet affect were detriments or made her an easy target. She knew this was one of the most competitive programs in Washington and she'd earned her spot here.

"That's good. Heads up, the chief resident is a bit of an asshole. Most of the attendings are fine enough but watch out for some of them – especially the head of cardio."

"Of course the cardio attending is a handful," Bella said, grinning.

"As sure as the day is long," Carlos laughed.

"Which rotation are you on?"

"Ortho. Which is great because I hope to specialize in it by next year."

"Amazing. Any tips for surviving my first 24 hours?"

Just as the words left her mouth a small, round woman who looked to be in her thirties burst through the door of the locker room, clipboard in hand and a look of exhaustion on her face.

"First-year surgical interns, get over here, now!" She was small, but her voice was loud, and it carried through the locker room with ease. Several people wearing pale blue scrubs trickled through the room, coming to stand in front of her, an array of different looks painted across each of their faces.

"I'm Amanda Harker, your chief resident. You answer to me now so let's clarify a few things before starting. Number one: I'm not your mother. I won't hold your hand, babysit you, or wipe your tears at the end of a long, grueling day. Number two: there are 10 of you, I'm expecting that by the time you specialize in 3rd year only half of you will remain. Right now, you're dispensable until you prove otherwise. So, prove otherwise. Number three: don't bother your senior resident or attending unless you think the situation is life or death. You're here to learn. So, _learn._ "

The room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop as the group of interns pressed themselves against the row of lockers behind them, growing more and more uncomfortable as the seconds ticked past.

"Your first 24 hours at Harborview starts now. I've randomly assigned each of you to a rotation. You'll remain on this rotation for the entire week, until next week when you'll be assigned to a new rotation. Report to your senior resident immediately. They'll introduce you to the attending and you'll figure it all out on the go. There's nobody here to babysit you anymore. This isn't med school." She stopped for a moment, her eyes flicking around the room as she narrowed her eyes.

"So, when I call your name, I expect you to get moving!"

Bella stiffened, half expecting her superiors to be a nightmare, but dreading finding her place in this apparent chaos. She noticed the room, which had once been bustling with movement and bodies preparing for their day or capping off their night on call, was now silent. Everyone stood around, watching as the group of interns stared at the chief resident with horrified looks on their faces. It seemed they gained pleasure from watching this moment unfold, no doubt recalling their time as an intern, reliving the trauma without being faced with the actual horror.

Being on the bottom was something Bella had grown used to, but the stakes had just been raised infinitely higher and the pressure was beginning to mount.

"Alhaab, you're on cardio," a short woman darted from out of the line, rushing out of the room the moment her name was called.

"Brighton, you're on pediatrics," Amanda continued to rattle off a long list of surnames, ordering people to their rotations and Bella's nerves grew as the room emptied of bodies.

"Swan, you're on trauma," Bella sighed in relief, her mood elevating at the prospect of starting off in her preferred specialty. This is where she hoped to one day land. Trauma surgery was faced paced and exciting, and no two surgeries were identical. It was the specialty that promised both challenge and reward in spades.

Bella weaved her way through the last remaining people, exhaling in relief when she finally exited tension of the locker room.

She found her way to the ICU where she would be rounding on patients with her attending. The soft beeping and chirping of machines and whirring of doors sliding open and closed as nurses ran from bed to bed to attend patients gave Bella a moment of comfort. This was where she belonged. Despite the chaos that had become her life, this was the one place where she felt she was meant to be.

She looked around, searching for the senior resident she was meant to report to, but the nursing station was filled with nurses and the resident was nowhere to be found. Had she missed rounds already? She glanced at her watch: 6:55 – she was here with five minutes to spare, it seemed impossible that she'd missed rounds already.

"Hi there, I'm Bella Swan, first-year surgical intern… I'm looking for the senior resident?" The nurse she was speaking to was wearing a name badge that said Cindy Ku, and the look of displeasure on her face in the picture matched the way she was currently staring at Bella.

"Oh good. Code blue in bed 11. The code team is about five minutes out. The senior resident is tied up with a post-op complication and can't make it, so you're all we've got." Cindy's voice was filled with displeasure as she spoke to Bella darting around the nursing station throwing supplies onto what Bella recognized as a crash cart.

She stopped for a second, staring at Bella expectantly before rolling her eyes.

"You're greener than green, aren't you?"

Bella said nothing in reply, not understanding what Cindy was trying to infer.

"Time to get your hands dirty. Follow me, intern," Cindy yelled at her before taking off down the corridor, pushing the cart in front of her as she sprinted ahead.

Bella followed behind her, quietly thanking her lucky stars that she'd worn runners on her first day.

* * *

Bella walked into the room, expecting to find an attending already at the patient's bedside. Instead, she found only herself, Cindy and two other nurses. One was busy ripping the gown off the patient, placing pads against his chest while the other dropped the head of the bed, pulling the pillow out from under his head. Cindy was at the code cart, drawing up ampoules of epinephrine.

"Let's go, intern!" Cindy yelled, pushing Bella toward the patient's bedside.

"You run the code, not us," another nurse yelled her way, and before Bella could take a second to process what was unfolding in front of her she flew into action, desperately trying to recall her training. She could do this. She knew how to run a code… in theory. She'd participated in training and even played a role in actual code blues, but never as the physician leading it.

 _Pull it together!_ She chastised herself, shrugging off the last of her nerves before diving into action.

Time passed faster than anyone in the room would have liked. Minutes turned into seconds and simultaneously time seemed to stand still. The only thing that mattered to the women in that room was this patient and saving his life. At some point, the code team had rushed into the room, but Bella continued running the code. She did so proficiently, calling out orders and moving through the steps in a logical and skilled manner. The team worked synchronously, never missing a beat under Bella's capable leadership.

Thirty minutes had passed before they called it. Bella's face was red with exhaustion and she appeared listless as stepped away from the patient's bedside. Her arms were tired, and she appeared more frazzled than the rest of the team did. They worked in silence, pulling the monitors off the patient, staring at Bella expectantly.

She didn't understand why there were eight sets of eyes trained on her.

Cindy moved to her side and nudged her, whispering "you ran the code, so you have to call it."

Bella's shoulders dropped, and she sighed, tired and defeated, the weight of this loss wearing on her.

"Time of death is 7:34 am."

The team worked quietly, finishing up with the patient as Bella stepped from the room, pulling the sliding glass door closed behind her. Seconds later she was in search of the nearest washroom, the contents of her stomach bubbling uncomfortably.

She was going to vomit, there was no question about it.

She raced down the hallway and into the nearest washroom, collapsing into a heap on the floor as she retched into the porcelain bowl. She wanted to stay there, on the floor, and collapse into sobs but she knew her day had only just started. The feeling of a life slipping away beneath her own hands was the only thing she could focus on, she was sure there was no worse feeling in the world.

She jumped up from the floor, splashed cold water on her face, rinsed her mouth out and tried to pull herself back together.

She startled when she opened the washroom door to find herself standing face to face with a man who was easily a head taller than her.

"Shit!" the word slipped from her before she could stop it, she was completely startled by his sudden presence.

She surveyed him from head to toe, and she found his nametag clipped to the pocket of his lab coat.

Dr. Carlisle Cullen, M.D  
Chief of Surgery

 _Of course. Of course, I've made a complete fool of myself in front of the Chief of Surgery on my first day, minutes after losing my first patient._

She refused to allow her panic to overwhelm her, taking a few quick breaths as she tried to right herself.

"Excuse my slip sir, I'm sorry," she offered, staring down at the ground in embarrassment.

"Don't be," he chided, his soft voice ringing in her ears, a feeling of familiarity washing over her.

"Your first code is the hardest, you know. Especially when it happens a few minutes into your first 24-hour shift as an intern."

Bella looked up at him in disbelief.

 _How the hell does he know about that already? Word travels fast in this hospital._

Before she could give it another moment of thought, he replied as though directly answering the thoughts in her head.

"It was my post-op patient that coded, I was in the hospital and received a personal page alerting me to the situation. I arrived to find you running the code." He paused, glancing down at her nametag before continuing.

"I watched the entire thing, Dr. Swan."

The gears in Bella's head began shifting, time seemed to bend around his words and she struggled to recall his presence in the room. It had been such chaos, relatively organized chaos, but chaos nonetheless. She could recall only a few faces in the room, but the picture in her mind that overshadowed everything else was the image of the patient as she called time of death.

"Crap," she blurted out, slapping a hand over her mouth to keep it closed.

 _Not only did I mess up while the Chief was watching, but it was his patient. Really great, Bella._

The Chief smiled, ignoring her blunder.

"You handled it well. You did everything I would have done. I followed you here because I wanted to offer you the opportunity to debrief what happened. Is this your first time?"

Bella nodded, "it's my first time running a code, yes."

"Then naturally I'm sure you're feeling like it was an error on your part that contributed to the patient's death?"

"Yes." Bella willed away the tears that were springing to her eyes, dreading the prospect of falling apart in front of the Chief of Surgery an hour into her first shift.

"Do you remember the very first thing you were taught in medical school about cardiac arrest?" His voice was gentle and kind.

Bella stopped, thinking back and trying to recall what her professors had taught her. The words came to her mind almost instantly.

"Code blue is rarely successful, very few patients ever leave the hospital afterward and most patients that have a code called for them die."

The Chief nodded and continued speaking, but Bella had stopped listening.

She was too busy observing him for the first time.

She watched him speak, noting ruby red lips that curled over pearly white teeth. She noticed sculpted cheekbones, a perfectly angular jawline, porcelain-white skin and, most shockingly, yellow eyes.

 _Yellow eyes._

She could hear him speaking but couldn't decipher the words. Her mind was too preoccupied with trying to make sense of the sight before her. It was impossible that he could share such shocking, breathtaking features with the woman she'd met on the plane several days ago without the two of them being related.

Even if their peculiar appearance could be explained by relation, it still didn't explain why they looked so… inhuman. So… perfect and beyond worldly description.

"I'm sorry Dr. Cullen…" she interjected partway through his monologue, "are you, by chance, related to a woman named Alice?"

Slips like this weren't unusual for Bella. She was very direct, to the point and rarely minced words. She was honest to a fault in most cases and blunt where others might recoil.

Dr. Cullen stared at Bella, his eyes narrowing as he considered her question.

"I am," he smiled, nodding. "Alice is my daughter. Have the two of you met before?"

"Wait. Alice is your _daughter_?"

Bella was incredulous. There was no way this man, who looked no more than 28 was the father of Alice.

"Adopted. But yes, my daughter," he was patient with her interjections, subjecting himself to her questioning without so much as a raised eyebrow.

Suddenly, Bella caught herself, recognizing how inappropriate her interaction had become.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Cullen. It's just… you look so young. And you and Alice share remarkably unique physical similarities. It's a bit jarring," she explained honestly, speeding through her words so that they came out in a jumbled, incoherent mess.

He laughed now, the sound reminding her of the same wooden wind-chimes she'd heard only days before from his daughter.

"It's quite alright, Dr. Swan. Although I am curious to hear about how you and Alice met if you're willing to share?" His eyes sparkled under the fluorescent lighting. In circumstances that would have made anyone else look less attractive, the poor lighting did nothing to dull the beauty of this man. Everything about him made it difficult to concentrate. It seemed that he was built to draw people in, entrance them and leave them dazed.

 _Crap, he even smells inviting._

She mentally reprimanded herself, trying instead to focus on the persistent flicker of the overhead fluorescent light aiming to dull the intoxicating presence of Dr. Cullen.

"Alice and I met on a flight from Jacksonville to Seattle. She offered me a bottle of water and we exchanged some conversation while we waited for the airline to resolve engine issues."

Bella couldn't help but notice the small wrinkle in Dr. Cullen's forehead as he considered her explanation. It was a subtle gesture, and he otherwise remained perfectly still and unaffected. Bella got the impression that this was a man that was well in control of himself, rarely giving away details of his mood or his opinions to anyone in a way that was accidental.

Somehow the small wrinkle in his forehead seemed to escape his notice. There was something about Bella's introduction to Alice that troubled him.

"Such a small world, isn't it?" he mused, a small half smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Bella nodded, unsure of what else to say. The tension in the interaction was only intensifying. His story didn't make sense, and Bella sensed his evasiveness. Far be it for her to question the Chief of Surgery, so she'd have to settle for the many questions and few answers she was presently mulling over.

"Will you let Alice know I said hello?"

Dr. Cullen stared directly at Bella now, the corners of his eyes had softened, and he smiled genuinely.

"Certainly. And well done today. What you lack in confidence you certainly make up for in skill. Most people have one or the other when they enter their internship – the latter being more impressive than the former." His hands were tucked into the pockets of his black tailored slacks as he spoke, and almost as if he'd planned it, the pager hanging off his belt started beeping and vibrating, a bright green light illuminating the screen.

Bella wanted to say more to him, to ask the questions that were sitting anxiously on the tip of her tongue before he darted away. She recognized through her time in medical school that gaining an audience with the Chief of anything was almost impossible, and it usually meant you'd done something awful enough to be worthy of reprimand from an extremely busy, and extremely skilled superior. This was a rare occurrence, having his attention, and she wasted it on her delusional curiosity instead of garnering favour with the person who potentially held the key to her future.

"You should report to your senior resident to debrief. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, Dr. Swan."

And with that, Dr. Carlisle Cullen turned on his heel and walked down the hallway heading for the elevators, leaving Bella dazed and confused.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for your reviews! I'm taking some liberty here with detailing how residencies work in the U.S as I live in Canada and things are structured somewhat differently. Allow me some creative license? :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Bella pushed the last of her remaining tomato on top of the sliced cucumber, watching as her tower of salad tumbled back onto her plate. She pushed the food around, hungry but too anxious to even consider eating, nonetheless grateful for the 30-minute dinner break she'd been granted.

She had copious amounts of charting to get through, endless orders to sign and a mountain of consult notes to complete. She finished off her afternoon by charting on her code blue patient. She combed through every detail of the patient's chart, learning that his name was Marcus Cartwright. He was 36 years old, a father to two children, and he'd been admitted overnight for a gunshot wound to the chest. He'd been triaged by Dr. Cullen, who apparently never slept judging by his overnight activities, and operated on by Dr. Cullen and the cardio-thoracic attending.

Bella realized in looking through his chart that Marcus surviving the night had been somewhat of a miracle. It wasn't shocking to anyone that this man had coded and eventually died. He'd sustained life-threatening trauma to his heart and lost a tremendous amount of blood. He had been in surgery all night but based on the extensive and meticulous postoperative notes the cardio attending wasn't confident the repair would hold.

Apparently, it hadn't. She tried her best to shrug off the loss, but she couldn't shake the picture she'd illustrated in her mind of Marcus and his young children. She wondered what their life would be like now that they'd lost their father, and how their family would cope through such a traumatic loss.

Her fork became her instrument of distraction as she used it to maneuver the remaining bits of salad across her plate. The rest of her morning had been eventful. Her pager had gone off a total of five times, three pages for trauma consults in the ER and two pages for post-op complications. The senior resident on the trauma rotation for the day was an older man who had very little patience and no aptitude for teaching. He stuck Bella with all the charting for the day, providing little to no guidance about what would be expected of her. Thankfully Bella had run into Carlos again – he was on ortho for the week and came into the ICU for a consult. He stopped by the charting station and offered Bella as much guidance as he could, giving her a boost of encouragement and reminding her that this rotation would only last a week.

She had yet to meet the attending, but she was glad for it. She didn't think she could handle another ego to stroke for the day. She knew this was part and parcel of residency, but today had been such a strange and unusual day, and she was still struggling to process the interaction with Dr. Cullen. It had left her with more questions than answers and it was still weighing on her.

"Are we interrupting something?"

Bella looked up, smiling brightly when she saw Carlos standing across from her, holding a lunch tray in his hands. Next to him were two other people, and Bella recognized one of them as an intern from this morning.

"Hey – I'm Tamika Sanders, a surgical intern, like you." Bella nodded and smiled at the woman standing across from her, reaching to pull out a chair, motioning for Tamika to join her.

"I'm Stefan, second year surgical resident." Stefan was a tall man, easily over six feet. He had a handsome face, and light blonde hair that he had combed neatly across his forehead. His eyes were a pale shade of green and Bella marveled at how a man with such large hands would be capable of performing the delicate procedures often required of surgeons.

He must have noticed Bella's gawking because he said, "don't worry, I'm not planning on specializing in neuro," he grinned, and Bella's face turned from ashen white to a deep shade of red.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled trying to regain what little composure she had left, "it's been an odd day…"

"Don't sweat it. We all heard about the morning you had. That's a rough way to start off your first day," Carlos offered, digging into his plate of pasta while he spoke.

Bella managed a half-hearted nod, grateful for company that could understand the way she was feeling.

"My first death was on day five. Pulmonary embolism post op. I ran in to run the code and within five minutes I'd lost her. She was only 23," Carlos reminisced with a heavy sadness in his eyes.

It was true that you never forgot the first time you lost a patient, Bella realized. She'd seen death many times before in med school, but she was never in the driver's seat when it happened. She was accustomed to an observational role, an extra set of hands to hold a clamp or calm a patient at best, but never the person in charge.

She wanted nothing more than to lay herself across the table and sleep for a very long time. But her day wasn't done yet, she was only 12 hours into her first shift. She chatted casually with her colleagues, directing most of the attention toward them, appearing to burgeon with curiosity though it was mostly an effort to draw attention away from herself.

She learned that Carlos bussed tables to make his way through med school, while Tamika came from a wealthy family, born to two parents in the field. Her mother was a psychiatrist and her father an oncologist. Stefan was quieter, more reserved than the others, offering very little information about himself. Bella understood the inclination to remain quiet. She wasn't willing to divulge much of anything about herself for fear that the conversation would eventually have to include her own experience of med school. She knew there would be a natural curiosity about why she'd left Florida for Washington.

After they'd finished dinner they cleared their trays, Carlos and Geoff heading in one direction and Tamika and Bella heading in another.

"Let's walk together?" Tamika asked, "We're headed in the same direction," she explained. She seemed to know the hospital well, piquing Bella's curiosity. She'd been wandering around the place all day struggling to remember radiology from the ER or the North Wing from the South Wing. It was a huge hospital, twisting and turning enough that Bella felt lost at every turn.

"You seem to know your way around quite well," Bella remarked, walking shoulder to shoulder with Tamika.

"Yeah, I basically grew up in these halls. My mother is a psychiatrist here. My father used to work in oncology," she explained, unraveling her beautiful, tightly curled hair before pulling it back into an even tighter bun.

Bella sensed the heaviness in her voice when she mentioned her father. She thought about inquiring but wondered if the subject was too painful. She settled instead for light conversation, aiming to satisfy her steadily burning curiosity at the same time.

"So, what's your take on the Chief of Surgery?" Bella tried to sound casual but was sure she wasn't successful.

Tamika looked at her, eyebrows waggling suggestively while she whistled in appreciation.

"So, you've met him then?" Tamika asked, a wide smile on her face.

Bella nodded, perplexed by Tamika's reaction.

"Are we simply appreciating how insanely attractive he is, or are we actually discussing his merits as the Chief of Surgery?"

"Both," Bella laughed, Tamika joining her.

"He's an exceptionally talented surgeon. He hasn't worked here for very long, about three years, but he was a shoe-in for Chief of Surgery when he arrived. He's calm, decisive, fair… and hot as hell," she grinned, stopping to lean against a wall near the nursing station of the cardio wing.

"He seems decent," Bella agreed. It seemed she wouldn't glean any more information from Tamika and it was apparent that she hadn't noticed anything strange about him. Bella wondered if she'd hallucinated the strangeness of the interaction. It seemed hard for her to believe that someone could look at him and not have questions about his physical appearance.

She shrugged it off, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to herself on her first day.

"If you think he's _decent,_ wait until you meet his brother. He's the head of cardio – a genius prodigy and one of the youngest people to ever hold a chief position."

 _So, he has a brother… interesting. I wonder if his brother looks as oddly as he does?_

"Anyway, this is my stop. You're down the hall – follow the signs for the elevator and head to the second floor," Tamika explained. Bella was grateful to have someone around that knew how to navigate the maze that was Harborview.

"Thanks, appreciate it."

"Oh, and Bella?" Tamika called after her.

"Yeah?"

"What're your plans for tomorrow night?"

"Um, I'll probably be trying to sleep off this shift?" Bella replied, more of a question than an answer.

"Not anymore," Tamika said, "come to Monty's after you've slept a bit. We can chat and have a few drinks?"

"Sure," she agreed. She didn't know much about Seattle, but she'd already heard about Monty's from fellow interns. It was the local bar right across the street from Harborview. Apparently, it was crawling with doctors and nurses.

"Oh, and don't forget we have skills lab at 7 pm tonight!" Tamika called after her, and Bella was grateful for the reminder. She'd been told this morning but had already forgotten in the midst of her chaotic and overwhelming day.

Bella couldn't help the feeling of relief that washed over her. As much as she'd wanted to keep to herself, she realized this residency would be nearly impossible without some allies on her side. She could create boundaries and still make friends.

 _A fresh start,_ she thought, _anything's possible._

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for being patient! The next chapter should be up in the next few days and we'll finally get to meet a certain someone...**


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